About Horses and Wars

The cow camp is busy the big herd's uneasy
The dark sky is rolling and mean
He rolls him a tight one ties down his slicker
Slaps at some dust on his knee
He lays out a flat loop throws at the piebald
Laughed as the old pony ducked
Then the third time he caught him
I guess the old pony let him
Games over he's startin' to cuss
Now the night watch is his with his face to the wind
He nods as rides past the boss
He's hummin' a song that his granddaddy taught him
On the back of that ol' piebald hoss

And he rides off to cow town when the fall work is over
And goes straight to the Two Minnie's bar
Where he dances till morning with the prettiest ladies
And tells 'em stories about horses and wars

The cow camps are empty the lands full of fences
The cowboys feed hay in a truck
The chuck wagon stands in a museum in Kansas
Rottin' and gatherin' dust

He rocks in an old chair his granddaddy made him
When the plains were still open and free
And his leggings still hang on a nail by the bed
Gave his spurs to his grandson last spring

Then he rolls him a tight one and stares at the wall
At a picture of him and the boss
For a while he jumps cattle out of sagebrush and cedar
On the back of that ol' piebald hoss
Then he dreams he's in Cowtown a dancin' till morning
With the girls at the Two Minnie's bar
Then he throws down a whiskey with a couple of cowboys
And tells lies about horses and wars

He's seen in his lifetime a gas-powered jeepney
Then a picture they sent back from mars
But all that he prays for is to ride off to glory
On the back of that ol' piebald hoss
While he dreams he's in Cowtown a dancin' till morning
With the girls at the Two Minnie's bar
Then he throws down a whiskey with a couple of cowboys
And tells lies about horses and wars